FAYETTEVILLE -- A committee helping search for the next top academic officer at the University of Arkansas will meet next month to begin reviewing candidates, said Peter Ungar, committee chairman.
The school's next provost will play a major role in deciding enrollment goals for UA, Laura Jacobs, chief-of-staff for Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, has said.
UA's enrollment increased to 26,754 in fall 2015 compared to 17,821 in fall 2005. This fall, UA estimates it has more than 27,000 students.
The new hire will report to Steinmetz, UA's top administrator since Jan. 1.
Steinmetz in March created a 16-person advisory committee chaired by Ungar, an anthropology professor, but Ungar has said it's Steinmetz who will make the hiring decision.
Ungar said in an email he hadn't seen any applicant material.
"The process thus far has been run entirely through the search firm," Ungar said. The committee will meet Sept. 12 to "vet the slate of candidates," he said.
The University of Arkansas Foundation is paying $100,000 to the Florida-based search firm, Greenwood/Asher & Associates, a UA spokesman has said. The foundation is a nonprofit group supporting campuses within the UA System.
The university's current provost, Ashok Saxena, stepped into the role last year before Steinmetz was hired. At the time of Saxena's appointment, UA said the new chancellor would choose the next provost.
Saxena became provost after the departure of Sharon Gaber, who left to become president at the University of Toledo. At the time of her departure, Gaber earned $315,113 yearly.
The median salary for provosts was $353,796 in 2015-16 at colleges such as UA considered to be research universities, according to a survey by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
Steinmetz earns $700,000 in annual salary and deferred compensation, according to his Oct. 2015 hire letter.
On Friday, UA released a "master applicant" list dated Aug. 31 after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette filed a public disclosure request seeking a list of applicants.
Applicants and title information are:
• Tony Ambler, academic director and workforce, University of South Carolina's Office of Economic Engagement.
• Carol M. Bresnahan, senior research scholar, Gladdening Light.
• Darren M. Dawson, dean and ECE professor, Kansas State University's College of Engineering.
• Robert Fischer, dean and professor, Middle Tennessee State University's College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
• Morris W. Foster, vice president for research and professor of community and environmental health, Old Dominion University.
• Edric Kilimann, senior application developer, Montgomery Lightswitch.
• Joe M. King, provost, Auburn University at Montgomery.
• Murray W. Nabors, dean of liberal arts and sciences, Missouri Western State University.
• Jeffrey Roberts, professor, Purdue University's Department of Chemistry.
• Mark Sheridan, vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral affairs and dean of the Graduate School, Texas Tech University.
• Joseph W. Tedesco, Elizabeth D. Rockwell dean and professor, University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering.
NW News on 09/03/2016